The Radical Philosopher: Karl Marx Part 4: Euro-Communism

In this penultimate post, we continue with our biography on Karl Marx. Check out the previous post here to know what has been covered so far in this educative biography series.

In the 1970s, Euro-communism was a movement that made waves. It came into existence when the European Communist Parties realized and understood that the Great Soviet System was collapsing. In Western Europe, Euro-communism sprang to life in the shadows of the Cold War. The new reborn socialist model was to remove the shackles of the Soviet doctrine and achieve democratic legitimacy. The newly birthed idea and movement had a lot of enthusiastic supporters in many countries such as France and Italy. At this time, most communist parties in Western Europe were trying to distance themselves from the collapsing Soviet Union; however, Communist East Germany remained a staunch supporter of the Soviet Union.

Euro-Communists at a rally in Italy

East Germany Ccommunist Party

In Communist East Germany, the party came up with methods to enforce its interpretation of the Marx’s legacy in which the freedom of descent had no place. Marx’s writings were readily available. He had aptly predicted the concentration of capital we now see in our modern world. Capitalism is not simply a market economy, but it also contains a trend towards consolidation and the formation of ever larger corporations. Marx understood that this sort of trend would ultimately destroy productivity. I’m certain we all can actually relate to this, as it is exactly what is happening in our modern capitalist society. We now live in a world where about four or five big companies dominate the market which is divided up to suit their own interests. It is worth noting that these companies are no longer as innovation oriented as we like we to believe.

In 1845, Karl Marx was wanted by the Prussian Government. They requested Marx be extradited from France. Marx then decided to relocate and he moved to Brussels. His friend also joined him and together they looked to start a new Proletarian Party. Marx later had the group renamed as “The Communist League” and was commissioned to write the Party Program. In the year 1848, The Communist Manifesto was published. This particular year saw the republican revolts against European Monarchies unfold.

“A Specter is hunting all of Europe; The Specter of Communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exercise this specter. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communistic revolution. The Proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains; they have a world to win. Workers of the world unite.”
An abstract from the Communist Manifesto.

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AS COMPOSED BY QUE